PREFACE

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 568: X International Symposium on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants

PREFACE

Author:

J. Hammond

Abstract:
PREFACE OF THE EDITOR
The Tenth International Symposium on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants was held from May 27 – June 1, 2000, at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. The symposium was held under the auspices of the International Working Group on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. The symposium was organized by a local organizing committee, with the assistance of the permanent council of the Working Group.
This symposium was the latest of a series starting in Littlehampton (England) in 1964. Later symposia were in Copenhagen, Denmark (1968); College Park, MD, USA (1972); Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands (1976); Bad Harzburg, Germany (1980); Ithaca, NY, USA (1984); San Remo, Italy (1988); Prague, Czecoslovakia (1992); and Herzliya, Israel (1996).
The Symposium was attended by 48 participants from 13 countries; 31 papers and 9 posters were presented. Major topics included new viruses and reports of viruses and phytoplasmas newly reported from ornamentals; novel methods for detection and identification of viruses; molecular methods for detection and differentiation of viruses; the proposal of a new viral genus; transgenic resistance; virus ecology and epidemiology; and disease managent and control. Discussion sessions addressed virus detection and identification, and disease management and world trade issues.
J. Hammond was elected as Chairperson, A. Gera as Vice-chairperson, and A. van Zaayen re-elected as Secretary of the ISHS Working Group on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants. C.A. Chang (Taiwan), A.M. Vaira (Italy), and G. Krczal (Germany) will join the council, and R.L. Jordan (USA) was appointed to investigate establishment of a web page for the Working Group.
After discussion of three potential sites, it was proposed that the 11^th Symposium would be organized in 2004 in Taiwan.

J. Hammond

PREFACE
This volume of Acta Horticulturae is the Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium on Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants.
Invited and keynote speakers and selected authors of offered oral papers and posters had the opportunity to submit their manuscripts for publication in this volume of the series Acta Horticulturae.
Submitted manuscripts were reviewed by the Editor and amended according to the referee suggestions prior to acceptance.
The ISHS acknowledges the cooperation received from the Editor on reviewing the manuscripts which was a significant contribution to the overall quality of the publication.

The ISHS Board of Directors